Community-level reorganizations following migratory pollinator dynamics along a latitudinal gradient.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Magrach A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7423476 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Although not all sex-dependent gene expression is adaptive, it is likely an important genomic mechanism that allows each sex to independently adapt to environmental changes. Among Drosophila species, sex-biased genes display remarkably consistent evolutionary patterns; male-biased genes evolve faster than unbiased genes in both coding sequence and expression level, suggesting sex-differences in selection through time. However, comparatively little is known of the evolutionary process shaping sex-biased expression within species. Latitudinal clines offer an opportunity to examine how changes in key ecological parameters also influence sex-specific selection and the evolution of sex-biased gene expression. We assayed male and female gene expression in Drosophila serrata along a latitudinal gradient in eastern Australia spanning most of its endemic distribution. Analysis of 11,631 genes across eight populations revealed strong sex differences in the frequency, mode, and strength of divergence. Divergence was far stronger in males than females and while latitudinal clines were evident in both sexes, male divergence was often population-specific, suggesting responses to localized selection pressures that do not covary predictably with latitude. While divergence was enriched for male-biased genes, there was no overrepresentation of X-linked genes in males. By contrast, X-linked divergence was elevated in females, especially for female biased genes. Many genes that diverged in D. serrata have homologs also showing latitudinal divergence in D. simulans and D. melanogaster on other continents, likely indicating parallel adaptation in these distantly related species. Our results suggest that sex differences in selection play an important role in shaping the evolution of gene expression over macro- and micro-ecological spatial scales.
2017-01-04 | GSE90733 | GEO
Project description:Microorganisms regulate numerous ecosystem functions and show considerable differences along a latitudinal gradient. Although studies have revealed the latitudinal patterns of microbial community structure and single ecosystem function, the latitudinal patterns of ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) and how microbial communities affect EMF along a latitudinal gradient remain unclear. Here, we collected channel sediments, riparian rhizosphere soils, and riparian bulk soils from 30 rivers across China and calculated EMF using 18 variables related to nitrogen cycling, nutrient pool, plant productivity, and water quality. We also determined microbial diversity (taxonomic and functional) and microbial network complexity using metagenomic sequencing. The results showed that EMF significantly decreased with increasing latitude in riparian rhizosphere and bulk soils but not in channel sediments. Microbial taxonomic and functional richness (observed species) in channel sediments were significantly higher in the low-latitude group than in the high-latitude group. However, microbial co-occurrence networks were more complex in the high-latitude group compared with the low-latitude group. Abiotic factors, primarily geographic and climatic factors, contributed more to EMF than microbial diversity and network complexity parameters in which only betweenness centralization had a significant relationship with EMF. Together, this study provides insight into the latitudinal pattern of EMF in rivers and highlights the importance of large-scale factors in explaining such latitudinal patterns.IMPORTANCEEcosystem multifunctionality (EMF) is the capacity of an ecosystem to provide multiple functions simultaneously. Microorganisms, as dominant drivers of belowground processes, have a profound effect on ecosystem functions. Although studies have revealed the latitudinal patterns of microbial community structure and single ecosystem function, the latitudinal patterns of EMF and how microbial communities affect EMF along a latitudinal gradient remain unclear. We collected channel sediments, riparian rhizosphere soils, and riparian bulk soils from 30 rivers along a latitudinal gradient across China and calculated EMF using 18 variables related to nitrogen cycling, nutrient pool, plant productivity, and water quality. This study fills a critical knowledge gap regarding the latitudinal patterns and drivers of EMF in river ecosystems and gives new insights into how microbial diversity and network complexity affect EMF from a metagenomic perspective.
| S-EPMC11019869 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Biodiversity patterns across geographical gradients could result from regional species pool and local community assembly mechanisms. However, little has been done to separate the effects of local ecological mechanisms from variation in the regional species pools on bacterial diversity patterns. In this study, we compare assembly mechanisms of soil bacterial communities in 660 plots from 11 regions along a latitudinal gradient in eastern China with highly divergent species pools. Our results show that β diversity does not co-vary with γ diversity, and local community assembly mechanisms appear to explain variation in β diversity patterns after correcting for variation in regional species pools. The variation in environmental conditions along the latitudinal gradient accounts for the variation in β diversity through mediating the strength of heterogeneous selection. In conclusion, our study clearly illustrates the importance of local community assembly processes in shaping geographical patterns of soil bacterial β diversity.
| S-EPMC7591474 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundHabitat loss is one of the principal causes of the current pollinator decline. With agricultural intensification, increasing urbanisation is among the main drivers of habitat loss. Consequently studies focusing on pollinator community structure along urbanisation gradients have increased in recent years. However, few studies have investigated how urbanisation affects plant-pollinator interaction networks. Here we assessed modifications of plant-pollinator interactions along an urbanisation gradient based on the study of their morphological relationships.Methodology/principal findingsAlong an urbanisation gradient comprising four types of landscape contexts (semi-natural, agricultural, suburban, urban), we set up experimental plant communities containing two plant functional groups differing in their morphological traits ("open flowers" and "tubular flowers"). Insect visitations on these communities were recorded to build plant-pollinator networks. A total of 17 857 interactions were recorded between experimental plant communities and flower-visitors. The number of interactions performed by flower-visitors was significantly lower in urban landscape context than in semi-natural and agricultural ones. In particular, insects such as Syrphidae and solitary bees that mostly visited the open flower functional group were significantly impacted by urbanisation, which was not the case for bumblebees. Urbanisation also impacted the generalism of flower-visitors and we detected higher interaction evenness in urban landscape context than in agricultural and suburban ones. Finally, in urban context, these modifications lowered the potential reproductive success of the open flowers functional group.Conclusions/significanceOur findings show that open flower plant species and their specific flower-visitors are especially sensitive to increasing urbanisation. These results provide new clues to improve conservation measures within urbanised areas in favour of specialist flower-visitors. To complete this functional approach, studies using networks resolved to the species level along urbanised gradients would be required.
| S-EPMC3661593 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is an established macroecological pattern, but is poorly studied in microbial organisms, particularly parasites. In this study, we tested whether latitude, elevation, and host species predicted patterns of prevalence, alpha diversity, and community turnover of hemosporidian parasites. We expected parasite diversity to decrease with latitude, alongside the diversity of their hosts and vectors. Similarly, we expected infection prevalence to decrease with latitude as vector abundances decrease. Lastly, we expected parasite community turnover to increase with latitudinal distance and to be higher between rather than within host species. We tested these hypotheses by screening blood and tissue samples of three closely related avian species in a clade of North American songbirds (Turdidae: Catharus, n = 466) across 17.5° of latitude. We used a nested PCR approach to identify parasites in hemosporidian genera that are transmitted by different dipteran vectors. Then, we implemented linear-mixed effects and generalized dissimilarity models to evaluate the effects of latitude, elevation, and host species on parasite metrics. We found high diversity of hemosporidian parasites in Catharus thrushes (n = 44 lineages) but no evidence of latitudinal gradients in alpha diversity or prevalence. Parasites in the genus Leucocytozoon were most prevalent and lineage rich in this study system; however, there was limited turnover with latitude and host species. Contrastingly, Plasmodium parasites were less prevalent and diverse than Leucocytozoon parasites, yet communities turned over at a higher rate with latitude and host species. Leucocytozoon communities were skewed by the dominance of one or two highly prevalent lineages with broad latitudinal distributions. The few studies that evaluate the hemosporidian LDG do not find consistent patterns of prevalence and diversity, which makes it challenging to predict how they will respond to global climate change.
| S-EPMC7319150 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The distribution and the structure of benthic assemblages vary with latitude. However, few studies have described benthic communities along large latitudinal gradients, and patterns of variation are not fully understood. Taiwan, lying between 21.90°N and 25.30°N, is located at the center of the Philippine-Japan arc and lies at the northern margin of coral reef development. A wide range of habitats is distributed along this latitudinal gradient, from extensive fringing coral reefs at the southern coast to non-reefal communities at the north. In this study, we examined the structure of benthic communities around Taiwan, by comparing its assemblages in four regions, analyzing the effects of the latitudinal gradient, and highlighting regional characteristics. A total of 25 sites, 125 transects, and 2,625 photographs were used to analyze the benthic communities. Scleractinian corals present an obvious gradient of increasing diversity from north to south, whereas macro-algae diversity is higher on the north-eastern coast. At the country scale, Taiwanese coral communities were dominated by turf algae (49%). At the regional scale, we observed an important heterogeneity that may be caused by local disturbances and habitat degradation that smooths out regional differences. In this context, our observations highlight the importance of managing local stressors responsible for reef degradation. Overall, this study provides an important baseline upon which future changes in benthic assemblages around Taiwan can be assessed.
| S-EPMC4981444 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Soil bacterial communities play an important role in nutrient recycling and storage in terrestrial ecosystems. Loess soils are one of the most important soil resources for maintaining the stability of vegetation ecosystems and are mainly distributed in northwest China. Estimating the distributions and affecting factors of soil bacterial communities associated with various types of vegetation will inform our understanding of the effect of vegetation restoration and climate change on these processes. In this study, we collected soil samples from 15 sites from north to south on the Loess Plateau of China that represent different ecosystem types and analyzed the distributions of soil bacterial communities by high-throughput 454 pyrosequencing. The results showed that the 142444 sequences were grouped into 36816 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) based on 97% similarity. The results of the analysis showed that the dominant taxonomic phyla observed in all samples were Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria and Planctomycetes. Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria were the two most abundant groups in all samples. The relative abundance of Actinobacteria increased from 14.73% to 40.22% as the ecosystem changed from forest to sandy, while the relative abundance of Proteobacteria decreased from 35.35% to 21.40%. Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria had significant correlations with mean annual precipitation (MAP), pH, and soil moisture and nutrients. MAP was significantly correlated with soil chemical and physical properties. The relative abundance of Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Planctomycetes correlated significantly with MAP, suggesting that MAP was a key factor that affected the soil bacterial community composition. However, along with the MAP gradient, Chloroflexi, Bacteroidetes and Cyanobacteria had narrow ranges that did not significantly vary with the soil and environmental factors. Overall, we conclude that the edaphic properties and/or vegetation types are driving bacterial community composition. MAP was a key factor that affects the composition of the soil bacteria on the Loess Plateau of China.
| S-EPMC4821562 | biostudies-literature
Project description:AimLeaves support a large diversity of fungi, which are known to cause plant diseases, induce plant defences or influence leaf senescence and decomposition. To advance our understanding of how foliar fungal communities are structured and assembled, we assessed to what extent leaf flush and latitude can explain the within- and among-tree variation in foliar fungal communities.LocationA latitudinal gradient spanning c. 20 degrees in latitude in Europe.TaxaThe foliar fungal community associated with a foundation tree species, the pedunculate oak Quercus robur.MethodsWe examined the main and interactive effects of leaf flush and latitude on the foliar fungal community by sampling 20 populations of the pedunculate oak Quercus robur across the tree's range. We used the ITS region as a target for characterization of fungal communities using DNA metabarcoding.ResultsSpecies composition, but not species richness, differed between leaf flushes. Across the latitudinal gradient, species richness was highest in the central part of the oak's distributional range, and foliar fungal community composition shifted along the latitudinal gradient. Among fungal guilds, the relative abundance of plant pathogens and mycoparasites was lower on the first leaf flush, and the relative abundance of plant pathogens and saprotrophs decreased with latitude.ConclusionsChanges in community composition between leaf flushes and along the latitudinal gradient were mostly a result of species turnover. Overall, our findings demonstrate that leaf flush and latitude explain 5%-22% of the small- and large-scale spatial variation in the foliar fungal community on a foundation tree within the temperate region. Using space-for-time substitution, we expect that foliar fungal community structure will change with climate warming, with an increase in the abundance of plant pathogens and mycoparasites at higher latitudes, with major consequences for plant health, species interactions and ecosystem dynamics.
| S-EPMC9828548 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Individual plants produce repeated structures such as leaves, flowers or fruits, which, although belonging to the same genotype, are not phenotypically identical. Such subindividual variation reflects the potential of individual genotypes to vary with micro-environmental conditions. Furthermore, variation in organ traits imposes costs to foraging animals such as time, energy and increased predation risk. Therefore, animals that interact with plants may respond to this variation and affect plant fitness. Thus, phenotypic variation within an individual plant could be, in part, an adaptive trait. Here we investigated this idea and we found that subindividual variation of fruit size of Crataegus monogyna, in different populations throughout the latitudinal gradient in Europe, was explained at some extent by the selective pressures exerted by seed-dispersing birds. These findings support the hypothesis that within-individual variation in plants is an adaptive trait selected by interacting animals which may have important implications for plant evolution.
| S-EPMC3778006 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Geographic gradients in body size within and among living species are commonly used to identify controls on the long-term evolution of organism size. However, the persistence of these gradients over evolutionary time remains largely unknown because ancient biogeographic variation in organism size is poorly documented. Middle Permian fusulinoidean foraminifera are ideal for investigating the temporal persistence of geographic gradients in organism size because they were diverse and abundant along a broad range of paleo-latitudes during this interval (~275-260 million years ago). In this study, we determined the sizes of Middle Permian fusulinoidean fossils from three different paleo-latitudinal zones in order to examine the relationship between the size of foraminifers and regional environment. We recovered the following results: keriothecal fusulinoideans are substantially larger than nonkeriothecal fusulinoideans; fusulinoideans from the equatorial zone are typically larger than those from the north and south transitional zones; neoschwagerinid specimens within a single species are generally larger in the equatorial zone than those in both transitional zones; and the nonkeriothecal fusulinoideans Staffellidae and Schubertellidae have smaller size in the north transitional zone. Fusulinoidean foraminifers differ from most other marine taxa in exhibiting larger sizes closer to the equator, contrary to Bergmann's rule. Meridional variation in seasonality, water temperature, nutrient availability, and carbonate saturation level are all likely to have favored or enabled larger sizes in equatorial regions. Temporal variation in atmospheric oxygen concentrations have been shown to account for temporal variation in fusulinoidean size during Carboniferous and Permian time, but oxygen availability appears unlikely to explain biogeographic variation in fusulinoidean sizes, because dissolved oxygen concentrations in seawater typically increase away from the equator due to declining seawater temperatures. Consequently, our findings highlight the fact that spatial gradients in organism size are not always controlled by the same factors that govern temporal trends within the same clade.
| S-EPMC3369838 | biostudies-literature